Stencil printing apparatus



Oct. 8, 1935.

H. P. ELLIOTT STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 10,1933 I, I dvnulllllllllllJlll 11km! I INVENTOR HARMON R ELL/OTT ATTORNEYOct. 8, 1935. H. P. ELLIOTT STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS 9 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Nov. 10, 1955 INVENTOR HARMON P. ELLIOTT ATTORNEY Oct. 8, 1935. H.P. ELLIOTT STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 10, 1956 9 Sheets-Sheet5 INVENTOR HARMON P. ELL/0 TT ATTORN EY 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 10,1933 INVENTOR HARMON F. ELL/0T7 W ATTORNEY Oct. 8, 1935.

H. P. ELLIOTT STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS Filed NOV. 10, 1933 Q 9Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTQR HARMON I? ELL /0 T7' BY ATTORNEY Oct. 8, 1935.ELLIOTT I 2,016,855

STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 10, 1933 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORHARMON E ELL/0T7 [55 BY ATTONEY IE Oct. 8, 1935. H. P. ELLIOTT 2,016,855

STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 10, 1953 9 Sheets-Sheet '7INVENTOR HARMON F. ELL/0 7'7' ATTORNEY Oct. 8, 1935. H, P. ELLIOTTSTENCIL PRINTI NG APPARATUS Filed Nov. 10, 1935 9 Sheets-Sheet 8INVENTOR HARMON B ELLIOTT wagm ATTORNEY Oct. 8, 1935.- H; P. ELLIOTT 4STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Nov. 10, 1933IIIIIIIIIIII;

lail/1111111111110 I INVENTOR HARMON F, ELLIOTT ATTORNEY Patented Oct.8, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application November 10, 1933,Serial No. 697,407

12 Claims.

This invention relates generally to addressing or other printingapparatus comprising a flat stencil, or more usually, a. series of cardstencils.

The object of the present invention is the production of a selectivestencil printing apparatus of the utmost flexibility in use, in that itmaybe easily adjusted (1) to print consecutively from each successivestencil fed from the magazine, or, (2) to select certain stencils onlyand print 11 once from each of such stencils, skipping all others, or(3) to print two or more times from all the stencils fed from themagazine, or (4) to select certain stencils only and print two or moretimes from each of those, skipping all others, each of 1 such variedmethods of operation resulting from a simple readjustment of one or moreelements of the entire combination constituting the operating unit.While this apparatus can be used on any kind of an addressing machine, Ihave herein 20-, illustrated it as applied to a novel form of flat padmechanism, on which an application Ser. No. 5944 for patent on anaddressing machine, and which is a continuation in part of the presentapplication, has been filed under date of Feb. 11, 1935.

The best form of apparatus at present known to me for practicing myinvention as above outlined and obtaining the results above recited, isillustrated in the accompanying nine sheets of T drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial plan view of the apparatus, with parts removed andothers broken away.

Fig. 2 is a supplemental plan view showing most of the remainingportions of the. apparatus with parts broken away and others in section.

Fig. 3 is a partial rear view of the apparatus showing portions of theselective and repeatprinting mechanisms.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation showing the same parts appearing in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail cross section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and,

Fig. 6 is a detail end elevation taken at the point indicated by thearrow 6 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a cross section of the essential portions of the printingmechanism taken on line 'l'I of Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is .a front elevation of the same parts.

Fig. 9 is another detail section of the essential parts or the printingmechanism, taken on line 3-9 of Fig. 8, the printing platens being shownseparated.

Fig. 10 is a similar View with the platens in closed position, i. e.that of completed contact.

Fig. 11 is a detail section of a portion of the inking mechanism, takenon line II--II of Fig. 7; and,

Fig. 12 is a detail cross section on a larger scale taken on the sameplane as that of Fig. 10, but showing the printing platens at the momentof 5 their initial contact.

Fig. 13 shows a camfor triplicate printing.

Throughout the drawings like reference characters refer to like parts.

Referring to Figs. 7, 9, 10, and 11, which illus- 10 trate the printingmechanism, the same may be described as follows:

i is the table of the machine supported in any desired manner, as bylegs, one of which is shown at 3i. On this table is pivoted at 3 avibrating 15 frame generally indicated at 2. The pivot shaft 3 ismounted on bracket 4 fastened to the under side of table I, andprojecting up through the opening 2| therein, one of the holding boltsfor bracket 4 being shown at 5. A pressure arm 6 is cast on frame 2, andcarries at its free end the platen I which has a flat face composed ofrub ber or other elastic composition. 8 is an arm de pending from theframe 2 and connected by pivoted link 9 to the swinging member II! whichis pivoted at II on the supporting strut I50, alsomounted in the bracket4.

The usual grooved stencil guides along which a series of stencils S areslid into the printing zone between the lower platen I3 and the upperplaten I are shown at I2, I2. Platen I3 is sup ported on the free end ofthe swinging arm I4 pivoted to bracket 4 at I5, and I6 is a roller, thejournal of which serves as a pin to connect I3 to It, and which rolleris supported on the cam arm ll which is pivoted at I I, being integralwith the arm Ill.

The swinging frame 2 has a horizontally extending slot I8 registeringwith a wider slot I9 in the housing 23 behind it and through which asheet of paper P or other article on which printing has been done may befed by means of fric-' tion feed wheels 22, operated by mechanismgenerally indicated at I in Fig. 1, which constitutes no part of thepresent invention. The lower 45 platen I3 is intermittently lifted bycam I! through the opening 20 in table I to meet the desceriding platenI, compressing the stencil S and the sheet P to be printed between them.

Ink is supplied to the under surface of platen 'I by roller 32 which ismounted in housing 34 pivoted on the lower end of vibrating frame 33which latter is pivoted at 25, such pivot being supported by arm 23. Aframe 24 also swings from pivot 25 and carries a series of inkdistribut-66 ing rolls 28, the lower one of which comes into contact with roller32 when the matter is moved to the right across the face of the platenI, and the upper one of which is in contact with the ink carrying drum26 which is journalled at 21 on the arm 23. Frame 24 has a projectinglug 35 which rests against the adjustable stop screw 3I under the pullof spring 35. Spring 35 anchored on the swinging frame 33 and connectedto the free end of pivoted housing 34 holds roll 32 up against the faceof the platen 1 during its transit across the same. The vibrating frame2 has a depending arm 3 which is connected by pivoted link 9 to theswinging member II], which has a stop lug I35 adapted to engage thestationary strut E55, when the pull of spring i8 anchored on bracket 4rotates frame 2 in a counterclockwise direction. When, however, themember I0 is swung on pivot ii in a clockwise direction, it gives asimilar swinging motion to frame 2 and forces the upper platen l downwhile the cam I? engaging roller It forces the lower platen I3 upward.When t. e platen I rises on a reverse movement of the apparatus, partlyunder urge of said spring I8, the adjustable contact screw 35 on slottedconnecting rod 44 rises with 4| and strikes the slide block 38' which ispivoted on frame 33 and located in slot 40 in said connecting rod,serving as a guide for the upper end of 4|. This gives a clockwiserotation to frame 33 and, when the platen i descends again, the spring31 gives a reverse swinging motion to frame 33, these two motionsreciprocating the ink roller 32 across the face of platen i.

As the arm 5 is subjected to great strains in this operation, which aretransmitted to the skeleton casting forming a part of frame 2, I providethe additional bearing rollers 43 for frame 2, carried in the overheadhousing 44, to take up some of these strains. 45 is a cover for theinking mechanism pivoted at 49 on the housing 48 and having a stop lug46 which rests against the projecting end of arm 23. A distributing rolland an ink fountain shown at 4? together constitute a source of inksupply of the usual type as best shown in Fig. "I, depositing such inkon the cylindrical surface of drum 2B.

The mechanism for controlling the operation of the printing platens land I3 is substantially the same as that illustrated and described in mycopending application Ser. No. 704,440, filed December 29, 1933, and inPatent No. 1,183,385 granted to Sterling Elliott, April 23, 1916, asfurther modified and improved in the form shown :in my Patent No.1,883,643, granted October 18,

1932. The prime moving mechanism comprises the hereinbefore mentionedswinging cam plate 55 pivoted at I I and oscillated by pitman 5| from amotor, not shown. 52 is a latch pivoted on swinging member I9 at 53 andcarrying ,a lug I45 which is adapted to engage the notch I54 in the camplate 53, then locking the swinging memher it] to the oscillating camplate 55 and causing reciprocation of the'printing platens, as beforedescribed.

' stop 95 on the end of member ill. The movements and successivepositions of the latch 52 are mainly controlled by the swinging trip-arm59 which bears against the anti-friction roller 58 carried on the end ofthe latch. This trip-arm is mounted on shaft 69 and has two upwardlyextending branches, one of which carries anti-friction roller I49cooperating with cam I39 on plate 50, to give the arm 59 acounterclockwise rotation when the cam plate rises. This movement takesplace against the resistance of spring 62. Another upwardly extendingarm 53 integral with 59 cooperates with the latch 54 loosely carried byshaft 66. Latch 54 extends through an opening in 53, and, when its latchprojection 65 engages the right hand surface of 63, it holds the arm 59in contact with roller 58 and so forces the latch 52 out of engagementas shown in Fig. 4, with the result that the cam plate 50, when thenrising and falling, operates the stencil feed mechanism only, and notthe printing mechanism. Shaft 6!! is supported from bracket 5|.

If the latch 64 is held up so that the arms 63 and 59 are free to swing,the latter will be held during the greater portion of each cycle ofoperations away from latch roller 58 by spring 62 and the member It willbe locked to cam plate 50 because spring !52 has pulled latch 52 intoengagement with notch I64 in said cam plate 59. This will produce aprinting operation during each cycle of operations and, if the stencilsare fed continuously, there will be one printing operation performedwith each. If, however, the printing operation is interrupted while thestencil feeding continues, certain of the stencils will be skipped, thatis, will go through without being printed. Latch 64 may be thus held upby either one of two mechanisms, as follows:. Referring to Figs. 2 and3, cam disk I9 is there shown journaled at H in housing 18 andcooperates with the cam nose 99 on the free end of latch 54. A ratchetwheel M is rigidly connected to cam 79 by the intervening notchedlockingdisk I31, and all three are turned as a unit tooth by tooth bythe pawl 13 carried by pawl lever 12 also journaled on pin II andoscillated by slotted pitman 15, to which 12 is pivotally connected. Acrank arm I6 is rigidly mounted on the pivot pin 53 of latch 52 so as toswing with said latch and carries a pin H which slides in the slot shownin pitman 55, said slot being of such length that the pin I? will strikeits upper end slightly before the conpletion of the upward movement ofmember l9, if latch 52 is in engagement, thereby vibrating pawl lever72.' A spring locking pawl E38 bears on the locking disk I31, and theparts are so proportioned that by each operation of the ratchetmechanism the cam H3 will be moved far enough to shift the registrationof the cam and nose 5;?! from low to high or vice versa. Consequentlythe latch 54 is allowed to drop into engagement with the arm 63, by onecycle of operations and lifted out of engagement at the n xt, if latch52 is in engagement with notch I64, otherwise the pawl 13 is notoperated and cam disk H3 remains at rest. Similarly the printingoperation may be controlled by a selector apparatus of the generalcharacter described in my above noted co-pending application, comprisinga frame I41 mounted on a vertical slide I48 and carrying one or morecontact pins I49 which may or may not register with certain holespunched in the frame of each stencil S as such stencil comes under frameI41 and pins I49 are lowered into contact with the stencil. The slideI48 is raised and lowered by the oscillation of the crank 261 which isfast on shaft 266 (see Fig. 4.), and is connected by link 68 to crank 61fast on shaft 66. Shaft 66 carries a dependent crank arm I26, on thefree end of which is journaled the anti-friction roller I25 whichcooperates with the cam I21 carried by the cam plate 56, so that theabove described linkage is oscillated once during the latter part ofeach upward motion of the cam plate 56. An electric circuit is provided,one terminal of which, shown at I53 in Fig. l, is connected to themechanism carrying and operating pins I49, all of which mechanism isinsulated from the main frame of the machine including the stencilguides I2. If, therefore, the pin or pins I49 all pass throughperforations In the frame of certain stencils, they will come in contactwith the guides 12 and establish a circuit which includes the magnet 82which, when energized, vibrates the armature lever 86 pivoted at 8 I theother arm of said lever extending under latch 64, as best shown in Fig.3. This lifts the latch free from arm 63 so that spring 62 can pull arm59 away from roller 58, and permit latch 52 to engage cam plate 56, sothat on the next cycle of operations, when that particular stencil hasbeen fed into the printing zone, the platens 1 and I3 will grasp thestencil and any sheet to be printed between them. I22 is a laterallyproiecting lug on depending arm I26 to which spring I23 is connected soas to normally hold roller I25 in engagement with cam I21.

The cooperation of these two sets of mechanism produces the followingresults: The latch nose 69 resting on a depression in cam 16, the arm 59is held against roller 58 and latch 52 is held out of engagement withcam plate 56, and no printing occurs, the stencils being skipped untilone comes under the frame I41 having holes registering with pins I49,whereupon magnet 82 is energized and latch 64 is lifted, thus allowinglatch 52 to engage so as to cause printing during the next cycle. Theconsequent raising of pin 11, resulting from the inwardly swung positionof latch 52 and the upwardly swung position of crank arm 16 causes alifting of pitman 15 and pawl 13 is actuated to rotate cam 16 and bringa high portion thereof under latch nose 69, thus continuing to hold uplatch 64 and thereby leaving arm 59 free to be pulled to the left byspring 12, permitting latch 52 to remain in engagement during anothercycle and print again from the same stencil. At the next cycle, however,a low portion of cam 16 is turned under latch nose 69, latch 64 againengages 63, and printing is stopped until another stencil with the samearrangement of holes comes along.

The stencils are fed along the grooved guides I2, I2 by means of areciprocating slide 89 moving in and out under the stencil magazine 88(best shown in Fig. 2), said slide having a projecting toe 99 on whichthe rear end of the bottom stenoil in the magazine will rest while theslide 89 forces it out along the guides I2 to the left under the pull ofthe slotted connecting rod 83, if the pin 81, carried by the slide 89,is in engagement with the offset portion 85 of the L-slot 84, 85, inconnecting rod 83. The other end of 83 is pivoted to one arm of thebell-crank 56 which is directly operated and actuated by the engagementof head 55 with the cam slot 54 in cam plate 56. If the offset portion85 of the slot is not in engagement with pin 81 the other portion 84 ofthe slot will permit connecting rod 83 to reciprocate idly on pin 81 andthe stencil then in the printing zone will remain there, so that if thep1atens'1 and I3 are then actuated the repeat printing above describedcan be done.

83 is normally held in position to produce reciprocation of the slide byspring I6I, but can be forced into the position shown in Fig. '2 bycooperation of the friction rollers I66, I66 carried on the free end ofswinging member 91 pivoted at 98 on an extension I64 from plate I44which is fastened to the under side of table I. Member 91 is so swungintermittently, when desired, by cam disk II2, which is journaled on pinI63 set in housing I32, also carried by plate I44. On pin I63 are alsomounted a ratchet disk I65 and a locking disk I I9, on which latterbears the spring locking pawl I26 mounted on plate I44. A pawl I66carried by a swinging lever I61 cooperates with ratchet disk I65 to turnboth cam disks I62 and I I2, with a step by step movement, whenever I61is oscillated by reason of the fact that the pin I68, carried by itsfree end, engages the offset portion of the L-slot I69 in the fiatconnecting rod II6, the other end of which is pivoted to the bell-crank56.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, two oppositelyextending crank arms H6 and I36 are shown pinned on shaft 66. The upperone, H6, is pivoted at its free end to a slide bar I I 5, moving onidling roll I3I between guides I2I and carrying on its free endanti-friction roll I I4 which bears on connecting rod II 6. When the arm63 is released by latch 64 to produce a printing operation shaft 66 isallowed toturn slightly in a clockwise direction (looking at Figs. 4 and5) and arm I I6 then moves in the same direction so that roll II4 pullsII6 away from pawl lever I61 (see Fig. 2) against the resistance ofsprings I21, so that the notch in L-slot I69 engages pin I68, and at thenext vibration of bell-crank 56 pawl I66 and ratchet disk I65 rotatelower cam disk I I2 far enough to swing an elevation of such cam diskagainst the adjacent friction roller I66. This swings frame 91 towardconnecting rod 83 against the tension of spring I6I and holds thelongitudinal portion 84 of the slot in said connecting rod in line withpin 81 on stencil feeding slide 89. Consequently the rod 83 thenreciprocates idly and the line of stencils in guides I2, I2 do not move,the one in the printing zone staying there for the second, or duplicate,printing operation. During such second printing, however, cam disk I I2is again turned so that the roll I66 bearing on it drops into adepression under the urge of spring I6 I, and upon the succeedingoperation the notch 85 in the connecting rod slot engages pin 81, andthereafter the feeding of stencils is resumed but no printing occurs ifthe next stencil to come under frame I41 does not have the combinationof holes punched in it which have been punched in all stencils which areto be used in printing. This results because the magnet 82 is then notenergized, latch 64 is left down, and arms 63, and 59 are held inposition to disengage latch 52, for skipping such stencil and allsucceeding stencils of the same character. The resultant position ofshaft 66 also moves roll II4 away from connecting rod H6 and spring I21pulls it over so that the notch in slot I69 is disengaged from pin I68and the pawl I66 is no longer vibrated to turn cam disk II2 further, butleaves it with a low point against roll I66, so that the feeding ofstencils continues until arm 63 is released by the co-action of anotherselected stencil and pins I49, another printing operation is initiated,and the stencil feed slide 69 is again'disabled for one cycle to againpermit the duplicate printing therefrom above described.

While the apparatus shown and described produces duplicate printing, amere substitution for cam .disks I0, I02, and H2 of similar disks havinghigh portions of double width, such as disk I'I0, shown in Fig. 13,would produce triplicate printing, and sets of cams having crowns ofstill greater widths would increase the number of printings to anydesired extent.

Upper cam disk I02 turns with H2 and, as a result, when the parts are inposition shown in Fig. 2 and the stencil feed is temporarily disabled topermit duplicate printing, the roll I90 journaled on twisted connectingrod I I I is left on a high point of cam disk I02, and, such twistedconnecting-rod III pivoted at its free end to crank II3 on shaft 66,holds the selector frame I 41 in raised position. This returns rollerI25 on depending arm I26 out of contact with cam I2'I in spite of thepull of spring I23. The other end of III is guided by pin I03 whichengages slot 90 on that end portion of II I.

Pawl I3 is fast on its pivot-pin H2 which carries an eccentricallylocated pin 9 (Figs. 3 and 6) which is connected by spring 93 with ananchorage pin 92'on pawl lever l2. This spring can be swung to eitherside of the axis of pin H2 with a snap-over action, serving in oneposition to hold the pawl in engagement with ratchet disk 14, and in theother position to hold the pawl out of such engagement. Similaradjustments of pawl Hi5 are rendered possible by snap-over spring I 30anchored at one end to pin 229 on pawl lever IE1, and at the other endto pin I29 set eccentrically in pawl pivot pin i253. The movement ofpawl lever I2 is limited by its stop pin I33 engaging one or the otherend of notch I64 cut in journal II, as shown in Fig. 6.

The shaft 60 may be manually oscillated by link I I8 connected at itsupper end to crank arm I36, and at its lower end to a skip pedal (notshown).

While I have hereinbefore described the platen 'I broadly as carried byarm 6, I prefer to employ a special mounting for it shown more in detailin Figs. 10 and 11, where the rubber pad is cemented to a plate 935slidable in undercut grooves I51 in housing plate I55 which is hinged onpin H35 set in sub-frame i551 carried by arm 6. Plate H55 can be pulledout by grasping pin I72, and plate I56 can be given slight swingingadjustments on its hinge pin I60 by turning pressure screw I58 andholding screw ifil. The inking roll 32 has anti-friction rollers 55journaled on sub-frame 34 and running on track rails 454 fast on plateI56.

ihe detail view, Fig. 6, of the ratchet-mechanism-operating cam-disk 76,shows a stop pin I53 carried on the boss of the pawl lever 72 and movingin the wide, shallow notch I62 cut in a cap plate I66 which is held onthe end of the journal pin 'II of the cam and is prevented from rotatingby the dowel pin I57. This limits the counterclockwise rotation of pawllever 12 and holds up the slotted p-itman I 5 after the downwardmovement of the latch 52 has lowered pin ii away from the upper end ofthe long slot in said pitman.

The various methods of operation of the above described apparatus may beconcisely explained as follows:

If both pawls l3 and M6 are swung back out of operative position all thecam mechanisms will be disabled, and if the cam disk I is then so turnedthat a high point will come under the nose 69 of the latch 64, theselector mechanism will also be disabled, and when the machine isstarted up it will operate as a. standard addressing apparatus after themanner of the mechanism described in the before mentioned patent toSterling Elliott No. 1,186,385, by printing once for each stencil fedout of the magazine.

Again, if both pawls are turned back from operative position but camdisk to is turned so that the nose 55 of latch 5:3 rests on a low point,the selector mechanism will become operative and, when the machine isstarted, it will skip all stencils except those having the predeterminedarrangement of holes, but will print only once from 15 each of suchstencils, functioning as a straight selective addressing machine afterthe manner of the apparatus described in my hereinbefore notedco-pending application Serial No. 704,440.

If, however, pawl '13 alone is turned back out of operative position andearn it is turned so that a high point comes under the latch nose 69,while pawl m6 is left in operative position, the selector apparatus willagain be disabled so that there will be printing at every operation ofthe machine, all the stencils being used. But inasmuch as the continualmovement of the arm 59 into the posi tion permitting engagement of thelatch 52 for effecting printing operates to pull. the connecting rod lieaway from ratchet disk 505 so that the pin see on the ratchet lever i0?is continually engaging the offset notch in the L-shaped slots 4% insaid connecting rod, this ratchet I 05 is continuously operated, therebyrotating, during each cycle, the lower cam disk H2 a distance of half atooth, so that the stencil feeding slide connecting rod 83 is disabledafter every other cycle, thereby disabling the stencil feed apparatusand leaving each stencil in the printing zone for a repetition of theprinting operation therewith. As aresult every name and address will beprinted twice.

Finally, if both pawls i3 and I05 are left in operative position, aspreviously described and shown in the drawings, the apparatus willautomatically operate in the manner heretofore explained in detail, andduplicate printing with each selected stencil will be performed, whileall others will be skipped.

The use of the upper. cam disk i112 and the twisted connecting rod illactuated thereby to disable the selector apparatus whenever duplicateprinting is being done is not absolutely necessary, as the secondlowering of the pins its for a second engagement with the stencil'inselective position, while the second printing is being done with thestencil ahead of it in. the printing zone, does not interfere with thedesired operation of the mechanism, The disabling of the selectormechanism at this time, however, saves a certain amount of wear on theapparatus and drain on he batteries supplying current to the selectorcircuit, and also diminishes the possibilities of the occurrence ofsparking at the contacts. I am aware, of course, that in theconstruction of addressing mechanisms comprising an ink-applyingmechanism operating in a. printing zone to which a series oflegend-bearing elements, either card stencils or type bearing plates,are fed in succession for cooperation in the printing operation, 7 meanshave heretofore been provided for skip ping some or such stencils orplates, either by manual control or by the actuation of an automaticselector mechanism, or for repeat printing from some or all of suchlegend-bearing elements under manual control, but the present inventionis believed to embody the first successful attempt to produce a machinewhich will run continuously and do one or another or several of thesethings automatically whenever first manually adjusted for the particularpurpose selected bythe operator.

The particular method of operation of the swinging platens whichproduces the progressive increase of the area of contact between themand the stencil and paper, which renders the fiat pad printing withstencils possible and constitutes an important feature of my invention,(not herein claimed) is illustrated in somewhat exaggerated form in Fig.12. This result is attained in two ways; which are cumulative in theapparatus here shown.

Evidently, if the two platens were swung from the same hinge axis, orfrom two axes both of which lay in the plane of contact of the twoplatens, and the slight thickness of the film of ink on one platen weredisregarded, the two platen surfaces would come into complete contactthroughout their opposing areas at the instant that both, or the latestone to arrive, came into such plane of contact, and the same difficultywith the trapping of air bubbles would occur substantially as though oneplaten were stationary and the other one was forced down on it by aplunger traveling on a line at right angles to the surface planes of thetwo platens.

This result I avoid according to my invention by using an elasticsurfacing material (such as shown at l) for at least one of the pads,and then so adjusting the parts that the common plane of contact isparallel to the surface of the elastic platen only when that elasticmaterial has been compressed by contact pressure to the extent desiredfor satisfactory printing. As a result, when the platens are approachingone another and the initial contact occurs, they are (due to theswinging motion of one or both) in relative positions such that theirsurface planes are slightly inclined one to another and the initialcontact then occurs only along the mathematical line at one edge of atleast one platen surface, and from there extends progressively to theother edge as the movement of compression of the elastic materialforming platen l is completed.

Furthermore, I exaggerate the above action to a certain extent, and alsoproduce a slight wiping action of one platen on the other, by separatingtheir respective hinge axes 3 and I5 (see Fig. 9) in a directionsubstantially at right angles to their common plane of ultimatecompleted contact. It will be seen on looking at Fig. 9 that as theplaten l3 rises toward the stencil S (which must be in the plane offinal contact between is and. 1) not only will the lefthand edge ofplaten l3 touch the stencil before the rest of its surface comes intocontact after the completion of such contact, but during the completionof its upward movement there is a slight component of horizontalmovement of said platen to the left due to the axis !5 about which it ispivoting being considerably below the plane of stencil S. This slightwiping'motion of the platen l3 also tends to squeeze out and wipe awaythe air bubbles by dragging them to the left, as distinguished frombeing slapped up on them simultaneously at all points, as would be theresult if the platen I3 were being lifted up on a vertical plunger.

The particular advantage of having the operative portion of the upperplaten I removable in through the machine will then be printed. Thus,1t)? if it were desired to make up a list of all the names, omitting theaddresses, it would not be necessary to make up a whole new set ofstencils, but the addressing stencils could be used with a rubber pad lwhich had been cut away so that 15 only the line of the stencil whichprints the name would come into use at each operation. 7

Having described my invention, I claim: 1. In a stencil printingapparatus comprising a swinging ink-carrying platen, a series of card2i) stencils, means for swinging said platen into, and out of, contactwith any stencil then in the printing zone, and mechanism for feedingsaid stencils one by one into said zone, together with a device forcausing said platen to effect printing opera- 25 tions only whenselected stencils come into said zone, the combination, with said abovedescribed apparatus, of mechanism manually adjustable so as to producerepeat printing with each of such selected stencils automatically whilein such 30 adjusted condition.

2. An apparatus such as defined in claim 1 combined with additionalmechanism manually adjustable so as to disable said selective deviceduring each such repeat printing operation auto- 35 matically while insuch adjusted position.

3. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said platenswinging means is controlled jointly by said selective device and by aconstituent element of said platen swinging means, 40 whereby, wheneversaid selective device initiates a printing operation, said lastmentioned element will automatically repeat it.

4. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said automaticmechanism for producing 45 repeat printing includes a cam disk which maycontrol said selective device, and a pawl and ratchet mechanism forrotating said cam disk.

5. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said adjustablemechanism for producing 50 repeat printing includes a cam disk which maycontrol said selective device, and a pawl and ratchet mechanism forrotating said cam disk, said pawl being temporarily adjustable at willinto an inoperative position; whereby said cam 55 may be left at restwhile other portions of the entire machine continue in operation.

6. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said adjustablemechanism for producing repeat printing comprises means for tem- 60porarily disabling said stencil feeding mechanism; whereby the stencilthen in the printing zone is permitted to remain there for such repeatedprinting operation.

'7. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said adjustablemechanism for producing repeat printing comprises means for temporarilydisabling said stencil feeding mechanism; whereby the stencil then inthe printing 70 zone is permitted to remain there for such repeatedprinting operation, said last mentioned means comprising a continuouslyreciprocating member, a stencil feeding slide, a connecting-rodpermanently pivoted to said member but detach- 7 ably connected to saidslide, and a means adapted to make or break said connection.

8. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said adjustablemechanism for producing repeat printing comprises means for temporarilydisabling said stencil feeding mechanism; whereby the stencil then inthe printing zone is permitted to remain there for such repeatedprinting operation, said last mentioned means comprising a continuouslyreciprocating member, a stencil feeding slide, a connectingrodpermanently pivoted to said member but detachably connected to saidslide, and a means adapted to make or break said connection, comprisinga cam disk and a pawl and ratchet mechanism for intermittently rotatingsaid disk.

9. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said adjustablemechanism for producing repeat printing comprises means for temporarilydisabling said stencil feeding mechanism; whereby the stencil then inthe printing zone is permitted to remain there for such repeatedprinting operation, said last mentioned means comprising a continuouslyreciprocating member, a stencil feeding slide, a connecting-rodpermanently pivoted to said member but detachably connected to saidslides, and a means adapted to make or break said connection, comprisinga cam disk and a pawl and ratchet mechanism for intermittently rotatingsaid disk, said pawl being manually movable temporarily into and out ofoperative position.

10. A stencil printing machine having a printing zone, a device forsuccessively feeding a series of legend bearing elements one after theother into said zone, mechanism adapted to cooperate with such elementwhile in said zone to print the legend borne thereby, and means fordisabling said mechanism whenever selected members of such seriesapproach said zone, combined with apparatus for causing said mechanismto repeatedly print each of such legends, each said disabling means andsaid repeat printing apparatus being manually adjustable to inoperativecondition; whereby said machine may be adjusted to print from allstencils once, or to repeat printing from all stencils, or to selectstencils and print one, or more times from each of those.

11. An apparatus such as defined in claim 10 in which each saiddisabling means and said repeat printing apparatus comprises a pawl andratchet wheel mechanism in which each pawl is provided with a snap-overspring for holding it in either operative or inoperative positions.

12. An apparatus such as defined in claim 10 in which each saiddisabling means and said repeat printing apparatus comprises a pawl andratchet wheel mechanism in which each pawl is provided with a snap-overspring for holding it in either operative or inoperative positions, andalso comprises a rotary cam disk moving with its associated ratchetwheel; whereby, after either pawl has been placed in inoperativeposition, the cam otherwise actuated by it may be manually adjusted soas to cooperate in producing the desired result while at rest.

HARMON P. ELLIOTT.

